A Regional Biological Approach to the Spread of Farming in Europe

Abstract

This article examines the potential contribution of archaeological human skeletal material, in particular craniometric data, to interpretations of the nature of the transition to farming in Europe. The material is discussed particularly in relation to recent debates about demographic variables and processes and modern genetic frequency patterns. It is suggested that biological morphometrics enables the comparison of ancient populations on a regional basis. Analysis of the material suggests that there was considerable morphological heterogeneity among the earliest farmers of the Levant belonging to the PrePottery Neolithic but that similar variability is generally not seen among the earliest mainland agriculturalists of southeastern Europe. We propose that this may be explained by the existence of a genetic bottleneck among Anatolian populations and that it supports models of the largely exogenous origin of many early Neolithic populations in this region. Regional comparisons further demonstrate a biologic...